Amethyst: Kickstarter: The FAQ

Just a heads up for Amethyst’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign, it is going forward and will be going live within the week. What’s the objective? It is the singular goal of bringing Amethyst into full-color. The end result will have several manifestations, the first and foremost being the release of Amethyst-Factions, the next supplement, for both 4th Edition D&D and Pathfinder. The second is a color-reboot of the original sourcebooks. Amethyst Renaissance 2.0 will only be a color-update but Amethyst Compendium will be a complete 4th Edition reboot, including content from both Foundations and Evolution, errata updated.

What’s the goal? We are looking for $8000, which is all reserved for the production of content, not for the development of the DEM label or to fund other ventures. This will be for digital products only. We’re not sending out USB keys and T-Shirts as those all take away from the money we want to use to produce more Amethyst content. Anyone receiving a PDF as part of a reward will be able to acquire the color premium POD of that same PDF at print cost.

What are the rewards? Here is what we are offering thus far:

Pledge $5 or more Contributor Level Get your name in the credits of our core rule book as a contributor. Every little bit helps. Also receive four brand-new high resolution wallpaper images from Amethyst.

Pledge $10 or more Art Nut Level Contributor rewards + you get a digital copy of the Amethyst Artbook—a promotional book detailing the dozens of sketches and color images created for Amethyst Factions as well as other books in the Amethyst line. You’ll also receive a pre-release preview of Amethyst Factions 30 days before the release of the main rulebook.

Pledge $20 or more Factions Level Art Nut rewards + you’ll receive a digital copy of the Amethyst Factions rulebook (for both 4th Edition & Pathfinder) as well as a digital copy of the Amethyst novel, Aiden’s Way. You’ll also be able to acquire the POD edition of any digital books in premium color at cost from RPGNow.

Pledge $20 or more Amethyst Starter Art Nut rewards + you’ll receive a digital copy of Amethyst Renaissance 2.0 (for Pathfinder) OR Amethyst Compendium (4th Edition). You’ll also be able to acquire the POD edition of any digital books in premium color at cost from RPGNow.

Pledge $40 or more Complete Amethyst Factions rewards + you’ll receive digital copies of every Amethyst product created via this Kickstarter (Pathfinder Renaissance 2.0, Amethyst Compendium, Amethyst Factions, as well as Hearts of Chaos–Complete adventure). You’ll also be able to acquire the POD edition of any digital books in premium color at cost from RPGNow.

Pledge $70 or more Amethyst Overload Complete Amethyst rewards + you’ll receive ALL old and new Amethyst color art in SUPER-high resolution available as a digital download. Over a hundred illustrations, more than four gigabytes of art with permission to print said art, hang it on a wall, put it on a shirt, etc.

Pledge $100 or more Techan Fanatic Amethyst Art Overload rewards + you’ll also receive personalized signed art inserts from both writer Chris Dias and artist Nick Greenwood. You’ll also have your name or your character’s name added into the Amethyst lore.

Pledge $250 or more Limited 20 True Saint Techn Fanatic + you’ll receive a customized 8×10 image by Nick Greenwood of your character or character of your choosing. Said illustration may even find itself in the main book. You’ll also be invited to name a city/region in the final publication and add additional detail in said entry. (The end results of everything you provide will be held by Dias Ex Machina Games. We reserve the right to reject or modify unsuitable suggestions.) You and up to four of your friends will also be invited to a personalized online Amethyst game experience run by game creator Chris Dias. Said session/s will run around 4-6 hours total and will be a fully personalized experience not found in any published form. You’ll also have access to an exclusive developer forum allowing access to early artwork and game concepts.

Pledge $500 or more Limited 2 One of the Angels True Saint rewards + you become an official sponsor of Amethyst, with a separate credit. You and up to four of your friends will also be invited to a personalized online Amethyst game experience—a mini-campaign run by game creator Chris Dias. Said session/s could run between 12-18 hours total and will be a fully personalized experience not found in any published form. Your group’s characters will be illustrated by Nick Greenwood with a digital and print of the artwork, signed by the artist. Your customized module with characters and original artwork will also be compiled and released as an additional adventure for everyone that pledged 40$ or more.

Are there stretch goals; if so, what are they? First stretch goal, at $10,000 will be the production of an Amethyst soundtrack, produced by Bilian. Everyone $40 and above receives the soundtrack. The second stretch goal, at $13,000, will fund a new Amethyst adventure, rewarded to all pledges $40 and above. The third stretch goal, at $17,000, will fund a new Amethyst supplement, Amethyst-Shattered, which will then be released for all systems we support (currently 4th Edition and Pathfinder), and awarded to all pledges 40$ and higher.

Are there plans to produce Amethyst for a third/further system if the Kickstarter succeeds? Yes, if Amethyst reaches its first goal, we will produce Amethyst for a new rule set. D&D Next is a given but we are contemplating producing it for 13th Age, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Fate Core, or Savage Worlds as well.

What if the Kickstarter fails? I’ll get depressed and probably cry a little. Seriously, we may re-launch it at a lower goal to fund just Amethyst Factions. Barring that, we may still produce Amethyst in B+W.

The color artwork being commissioned via this Kickstarter will all be produced by Nick Greenwood, responsible for nearly all previous artwork for Amethyst. Nick creates truly amazing images of unmatched quality. The color updates of the old artwork are coming out quite well as you can see below.

Chris Dias

Chris Tavares Dias is the literary equivalent of that crusty burnt cheese at the bottom of the fondue pot. Some people claim he looks like Mathew Perry. He would like that to be true. It's not. In 2010, Chris co-wrote and created Amethyst Foundations, a 4th Edition setting based on the previous version under 3.5. It has received critical acclaim for integrating science fiction into classical fantasy. In August of this year, Chris was last seen staring at a dead raven that had fallen beside his car. Two months later, his watch and notepad were found in the stomach of a basking shark that had washed ashore off the coast of Florida.